The silent lesson: confronting the hidden curriculum in medical training.
Abstract
The hidden curriculum in medical training comprises the set of unwritten norms, values, and practices that students learn in clinical settings and that frequently clash with the formal principles taught in the classroom. We analyze how this curriculum transmits informal competencies related to emotional suppression, hierarchical obedience, and the normalization of physical self-sacrifice, shaping professional identities that can erode empathy, compromise patient safety, and contribute to burnout. The dissonance between institutional discourse and daily practice is examined as a source of cynicism and a loss of vocational idealism. Finally, the article proposes making the hidden curriculum visible through structured spaces for reflection, conscious modeling by clinical educators, and alignment between stated values and observable behaviors, with the aim of transforming this phenomenon into a reinforcement of ethical culture and professional well-being.
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